Double the Laughs
by Wisdom Rose
Summary: It's been years since Fred Weasley passed, but George still remembers every laugh. He tries to bestow his long known mischief in his children, while still teaching them patience and maturity with each other and the rest of the world.


There's no loss quite like the loss of a twin. Everyone had lost so much in the war, this was true. Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and children were murdered and out numbered, or just simply taken. It can be argued that each grief was just as powerful as the next, though they were all so completely different. Losing a twin, for example, was in it's own category. It left a hole in your heart too big to fill and took away that comfort of always having that one person at your side no matter what.

George Weasley felt that hole in more than just where his ear used to be. He felt it everywhere.

Mostly, he felt in the store. He hadn't lost the joy of his work, but without Fred as his partner, it was dulled slightly. His brothers, mostly Ron and Bill, helped him out at the shop occasionally. Ginny too. But it wasn't the same. He wished Fred could see how successful they had become. How a little business they had started in the Gryffindor common room had turned into the Infamous Weasley's Wizard Weezes. They had two large stores now. One in Hogsmeade and one in Diagon Alley. Also, they had several smaller shops hidden all over London and other parts of England, unseen by the muggle public. George personally oversaw the one in Hogsmeade with his wife Angelina, so that they could be closer to their children at Hogwarts.

George's two children were also constant reminders of Fred. Positive ones, of course. They were twins, Roxanne and Freddie. Roxie was a Ravenclaw while Freddie was a Gryffindor. They were also useful in the shop during select weekends and summers. Freddie was the one who had the desire to do it full time when he graduated, but his sister wasn't as interested. They bickered constantly and were like night and day with their personalities. It was a daily duty for Angelina and George both to break up their fights. This afternoon was no different.

"Dad!" The loud chime above the door signaled Roxie's arrival. She looked a great deal like a Weasley, except that her skin and hair were darker like her mother. Said hair, however, was now tucked underneath a Molly-made knit cap. She made a lot of heads turn at her exclamation as she ran through the stores and up the steps. Her Ravenclaw robes flew behind her and she looked absolutely furious.

George came around from the back, nearly running into his daughter. He reached out to grab her arms, steadying her from crashing into him. "Woah, Roxie! Slow down there a second. What has you running over here anyway? You're not due here for at least another half an hour. How did you get here without an escort?"

Roxie opened and closed her mouth then, her face flushing dark red. "I used the map." She produced a long, folded piece of parchment then, which George immediately took.

"Where did you get this?" He asked, his voice incredulous and slightly proud as he opened the folds. Harry had kept it all this time, he assumed, but they agreed years ago that it would be best to keep it from the children. Sneaking out of Hogwarts, though often useful, was entirely unsafe. "I was under the impression your uncle had it?" He raised an eyebrow at her then, admittedly amused.

"James took it with him to Hogwarts. Uncle Harry hasn't…figured it out yet." Or if he had, he didn't care. Her face slowly fell as George slipped the map into his pocket. Then, in an instant changed into a certain triumph. "Serves James Potter right! For what he did to me, I hope his father thorps him!"

George threw his head back to laugh then at that. The thought of Harry ever hurting a hair on one of his children's head was very laughable. "Now what did that little trouble-maker do to you to deserve a beating?"

With an angered huff, Roxie yanked the knit cap off of her head and threw it to the ground. Then, like on cue, her usual dark brown hair fell out and onto her shoulders, now colored a fiery red. "Look! Look what Freddie and James did to my hair!" She cried, stomping her foot on the ground.

Trying to hold back the laughter, George took her hand and led her back into his office and away from the customers who were staring once again. Once he got the door closed behind them, he ran his hand tiredly through his own hair. "So, I take it you're not a fan of your new hair?"

"No!" She cried desperately then. "Not only is it just not my color, I love my brown hair! And Freddie knows that. He and James told me I wasn't a real Weasley without red hair. Is that true?" She collapsed into the chair in front of his desk then, looking defeated.

George shook his head, a small smile on his face. He moved over to her, kneeling down in front of her chair. "First of all, I don't know what your brother is talking about, as he has dark hair as well." Roxie nodded with him, folding her arms with a huff. "But you can't go on believing everything your brother and cousins tell you. Your Aunt Ginny drove herself crazy doing just that when she was younger. Siblings are there to drive you mad, Rox. All family is."

Roxie was quiet for a moment before taking in a long breath. "Why is Freddie so mean to me?" She asked quietly.

"Because he's a boy, and boys are mean around their friends." He said simply with a shrug, getting up and moving to sit in the chair across from her. "I know it doesn't seem fair, but he doesn't mean it like you think. He's just trying to impress James, and I know that makes him look like a jerk, but he does love you."

"How do you know?" Roxie asked, giving a sniff of disbelief before looking up at him. She had calmed considerably now, but her voice was still skeptical. "All he does is tease me." The thirteen year old pulled on the end of her Ravenclaw scarf, looking down again.

George could see that whatever spell or trick the boys had used, it had been very temporary. Roxanne's hair was turning back to it's dark brown curls. "It's his way of including you. If he didn't like your company, he would ignore you completely. But of course he loves you, silly girl, he's your brother. Your twin."

The young girl was quiet then for a moment, biting her bottom lip before she rose her eyes again to her father. "Did you and Uncle Fred get along always?" She asked. Her voice was hesitant, as it was hard to know when George would be ready to talk about the loss of his twin brother. Even after all these years, it still was often a painful subject to bring up.

"Most of the time." George admitted, smiling now as he though of his own twin. "We had more in common than you and Freddie, I think. For as long as I can remember, we were finishing each others sentences, and falling into step. We had our arguments, of course, and a few fights. Rarely anything serious." He sighed then. "I wish you and Freddie could have that now, but your interests are different. You'll grow closer as you mature. Fred and I began to have more things in common then just the joke shop."

"It seems like Freddie's never going to grow up." Roxie said quietly, kicking her shoe against the floor. "All he and James do is pull pranks on people and use the products on the first years. It's horrible." She shook her head, finally pulling off the scarf she had been messing with and put it on the table. "They get detention more then anyone in the entire school."

"He's like I was when I was in school." George said with a slightly proud smile, though he wasn't so sure that was the right response. "And you're more like your mother, which, I have to admit, will probably fair better for you in the long run. You have a good head on your shoulders, and you matured faster than he did. You'll catch up to each other soon. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you have more in common than you think. You both joined the Quidditch team this year, after all."

Roxie smiled then, thinking about how excited she had been a few weeks before when she had been named Seeker and Freddie had been named Keeper. It had been one of the few times they had something solid to talk about that didn't end in them fighting. "Yeah, maybe you're right. We do like the same professional teams, and the same types of brooms. Plus, we both like the shop, even though he uses the prank products more than I do."

George nodded along with her words, glad to have solved yet another crisis in his teenage daughter's world. It seemed like everyday, the world was ending for her. Then again, Ginny had been the same way. "See? There you go. Now go find you brother and give him this." He opened his drawer then, pulling out a small vial. "It will turn his ears green for a week."

Grabbing the bottle, a large grin spread across Roxie's face and she sprung to her feet, a revengeful look in her eyes. "Perfect! Thanks, Dad!" Grabbing her scarf, she was just about to run out the door when George grabbed her arm to stop her.

"If you tell your Mother, I'll ground you for the entire summer. You smuggled it out of the store when I wasn't looking if anyone asked." He said, giving her a wink. Roxie nodded quickly and with a excited giggle, disappeared.

Sitting back in his chair after Roxie had rushed out, George shook his head. It was hard to understand why his children weren't close. He hadn't been close to all of his siblings, it was true, but he had loved them. But he and Fred had something special. A specific bond that he never had with Ron, Ginny, or any of his older brothers. They had gone through everything until the end of the war, and as always, he wished he could be here.

What would Fred think of him now? Settled down, with two kids, still running the joke shop. He'd probably laugh at first and tease him for turning into such a softie. But he was sure Fred would be in a similar situation, had he survived. He'd have a wife and children, and the Weasley family would just keep growing, making the Burrow burst at the seams come Christmas.

Looking to his left, George smiled as his gaze landed on the pictures he kept, lining one side of his desk. They varied from his parents and siblings, to his children and wife and The Potters. There was a handful of pictures with him and Fred, but one stuck out in particular. It was of them, in their new dragon jackets, standing in front of their Diagon Alley store. They were shoving each other playfully in the picture, each grinning as they got in the center, where the sign was. They were so very happy then, happier than they ever had been, and ever would be.

He was glad now, more so that he was then, to have spent those last years building their business together. As much as he told his children that graduating Hogwarts was the most important thing in their future right now, he didn't regret leaving early. It gave them more time to spent time together and to get to know each other as best friends outside of The Burrow. They had achieved a lifetime's worth of dreams together, as cheesy as it sounded. Well, 'No cheese' as Fred would always say. When you were close enough to something, nothing was ever too cheesy. It was always just right.

Standing up, he grabbed his discarded coat and pushed the chairs in before heading to the door. However, before he turned off the lights, he turned his head to look at the picture again, chuckling softly as Fred gave a particularly hard shove, throwing him out of the picture for a moment.

"Save me a seat up there, Fred." He said quietly, his eyes lingering on the picture for a moment before he turned off the lights and returned to his work.


End file.
